The real estate arm of Swiss banking giant UBS is buying the A Factorij office building in Amsterdam for €30 mln from private investor Solidiam.
PropertyEU's research unit estimates that the gross initial yield comes to over 7%. The A Factorij used to be part of the direct real estate portfolio of the Dutch healthcare sector pension fund SBZ before it was sold in 2009 to Solidiam.
The deal is interesting because UBS invests primarily on behalf of institutional investors. Until now, foreign insitutional investors in the Netherlands have been most active in prime locations in Amsterdam, such as the Zuidas (South Axis) business district and the IJ banks near Central Station. The area where the A Factorij is situated is considered more of a secondary location.
Earlier this week, the Piet Hein Buildings near Central Station were sold to Finnish pension fund Ilmarinen and a French insurance firm. This is the first time in many years that UBS, one of the leading real estate investors in Europe, has made an acquisition in the Netherlands.
However, it is possible that UBS is acquiring the A Factorij on behalf of a high net worth investor. This group of investors generally have a broader remit in terms of risk/return. In recent years, UBS has successfully tapped into its wealth management arm which currently accounts for roughly 3% of the total global real estate business.
The A Factorij is located in the west of Amsterdam in a former bicycle factory that has been transformed into a multi-let office space. Other tenants of the 12,000 m2 building include UK advertising agency Ogilvy, MVSA and Etcetera.
The building is currently fully let, but Ogilvy is due to move in 2018 to the Riverstaete office building on the Amstel River in Amsterdam which is currently being completely refurbished.
Appelhoven real estate advisors acted on behalf of the vendor while HMK notaries and Rechtstaete provided legal advise. The buyer was advised by Clifford Chance and SGS Search.
